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Roxy is a newer addition to 11th Ave’s Pettirosso. Working as a bartender since June, they are already adding drinks to the menu. While new to Pettirosso, Roxy has plenty of Hill experience — at First Hill’s Hideout and Vito’s.

When Roxy isn’t developing new cocktails, they work as an artist, both as a costume designer, and, recently, as a woodworker. Continue reading →

There are a lot of stories at the new mixed-use version of Capitol Hill’s Hugo House literary center — six, to be exact — but the tale behind the building’s coming new restaurant is more of a legend of logistics than a romance of food and the written word.

For chef Sun Hong, quality fish, seaweed, and perfectly seasoned rice are, each, a given. What matters is the tae — “the hand,” the style, the detail, and the finishing of each creation he wants to serve.

“Your hand is your signature,” Hong tells CHS. After a run of popular pop-ups around the city, Hong is brining to his By Tae handrolls to Capitol Hill’s Chophouse Row. Continue reading →

Maria Semple, best-selling author and screenwriter, speaking at the opening event last Saturday

There once was a Hugo House here / We loved its old crazy quilt cheer / This house, it would seem, an architects dream / But the spirit of quirkies still near

This poem was recited by Dick Gemperle last weekend at the grand reopening of Richard Hugo House, a beloved community workspace for writers and a home for Seattle’s “literary heartbeat.”

“This is a wonderful time for Hugo House. Everything is coming together in September. On the 4th of September we closed the transaction to purchase this space. We’re almost done with construction, almost done with our capital campaign, tonight is our grand opening, and next week classes start,” said Gemperle, board president of Hugo House. “It’s all coming together.”

The new Hugo House offers more space for readers and writers with more classrooms, along with a dedicated performance space for readings, and a front parlor space with desks and bar that will be open during events. Continue reading →

Boards from the old Hugo House — complete with the graffiti encouraged at a goodbye party before its demolition — live on in the new Hugo House

The new Hugo House will be open to the public for the first time Saturday but the staff moved in Wednesday and the space has already hosted its first event — an opening preview for the more than 300 community donors and public officials responsible for the one-of-a-kind writing center across from Cal Anderson Park.

“We’re in a time right now when words really matter,” State Representative Nicole Macri said at Monday night’s pre-opening reception in the new center.

Construction of the new 9,600-square-foot Hugo House writing center at 11th and E Olive St. is fully imbued with the creative process — right down to the burning spirit that drives any author, poet, or journalist: a deadline.

“Construction always take longer than they think it will and there have been some unavoidable delays,” Hugo House executive director Tree Swenson tells CHS. “They say they’ll be ready.”

Like a publisher awaiting that final draft, Swenson is planning for Saturday, September 22nd — the planned official grand opening of the new Hugo House inside the six-story mixed-use apartment building that stands at the site the old Hugo House previously called home.

“The celebration will be a chance for everybody to explore the whole space in a design that invites creativity,” Swenson said.

Designed by the architects at NBBJ, the new Hugo House is centered around a 150-seat auditorium but Swenson said the first thing any visitor will see from the 11th Ave entrance is the front salon with built-in writing nooks, seating areas, and a small stage. Continue reading →

An effort to highlight Capitol Hill’s creative spaces got started Sunday with the first-ever 11th Avenue Street Fair where painters, clothing designers, and all other types of artists came to display and sell their work.

Sponsored by the Capitol Hill Community Council, and street representative’s Vermillion, Blue Cone Studios, Imminent Mode, and John Criscitello Studios, the festival closed the street to traffic and let the artists mostly do their thing. Continue reading →

Following the Capitol Hill Block Party by a week, it’s easy to draw comparisons with this weekend’s first ever 11th Avenue Street Fair but the focus should be on the diverse artistic community the street fosters, organizers say.

“[Capitol Hill] has its unique parts of being free and open, being able to create whatever type of art you want to create,” said Natalie Curtis, president of the Capitol Hill Community Council, one of the sponsor’s of the event. “We’re just hoping that people living in the area, working in the area, will come on a Sunday and hang out.”

The fair will take place on 11th Ave between Pike and Pine from 1 to 9 PM Sunday, July 29. Curtis said you can expect a “nice, artsy flow of creatives” and “beautiful spaces with beautiful people.” Continue reading →

The Seattle Department of Transportation with the aid of Casey Rogers put together a program called “People Streets” or specifically, “Pike People Streets” to encourage community involvement by providing pedestrian access to side streets in vibrant neighborhoods. This year the project has been scaled down to two dates and one block: 11th Ave between e, pike and E. Pine. The first day is Sunday, July 29th from 1-9 pm. The street will be closed to traffic and parking from 10am-10pm. (More information about 8/9/18 closure tba.)

11th Avenue between E. Pike and E. Pine street is concentrated with businesses and art/music spaces that are predominantly LGBTQ & MWBE (LGBTQ & minority and women owned/operated business enterprises) that strive to represent and host underserved and QTPOC artists.

Since 1999, Leigh Stone has witnessed the transformation of Capitol Hill as owner of Crybaby Studios, a subterranean warren of rehearsal spaces below 11th Ave between Pike and Pine. She has had a front row seat — or, more accurately, a view from the orchestra pit — to the accelerating gentrification of the surrounding neighborhood. Now she is carving out space for working class artists with the Crybaby Musician’s Grant, a program that will award three months’ access to a private studio and recording equipment for musicians who could not otherwise afford it.

“It’s important that spaces like this are centrally located and available to every demographic, not just people who have extra money.” Stone said. “We want to be known for having a music scene, but it’s gotten increasingly more difficult. Seattle is called ‘the City of Music’ — it’s been trademarked — and I’m fighting tooth and nail to keep facilities in the actual city.”

The much anticipated exhibit, Bold As Love: Jimi Hendrix at Home, offers a rare and detailed look at Jimi’s Seattle origins through the lens of those closest to him and by his own artistic eyes. Through archival and family photos, his … Continue reading →

With one exception, we will be meeting there the 3rd Monday of the month from 6:00 – 7:30 for the rest of the year. Thank you to Capitol Hill Housing for making the space available.Share:TwitterFacebookRedditEmailPrint